2017

On July 14, Illinois Congressman Bill Foster (D) reintroduced legislation to change penalties students face when convicted of minor marijuana offenses. The Second Chance for Students Act would allow students convicted of an offense involving the possession of marijuana to retain financial aid eligibility for six months while they complete a drug rehabilitation program.

Under current U. S. Federal policy, students convicted of drug offenses lose eligibility for federal financial aid for a period of time.

The House had previously voted for far-reaching changes to the law passed by voters in November 2016; compromise bill more closely reflects ballot initiative

By Michael Bachara
Hemp News

After weeks of talks and missed deadlines, legislators in Massachusetts have reached an agreement on legislation that will make changes to Question 4, the law to regulate marijuana for adults that was approved by voters in November 2016.

Senate Bill 24, signed last week, will improve access to treatment for Delaware veterans

By Michael Bachara
Hemp News

On July 12, Delaware Governor John Carney signed into law Senate Bill 24, which will expand access to medical marijuana treatment for Delaware veterans, and other Delawareans, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Amendment Would Provide Veterans the Opportunity to Discuss Medical Marijuana with their Doctor

By Michael Bachara
Hemp News

U.S. Senators Steve Daines (MT-R) and Jeff Merkley (OR-D) successfully included an amendment, which passed committee 24-7 vote, in the FY 2018 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act that protects veterans’ ability to discuss with VA physicians the use of medical marijuana in states where it is legal.

Hemp farmers believe the crop has great potential for North Carolina's economy

By Michael Bachara
Hemp News

The North Carolina General Assembly passed industrial hemp legislation in 2015, which was signed into law by former Gov. Pat McCrory. After two years of establishing bureaucratic rules, which include licenses to import hemp seed, a license to plant the hemp seed and consent to THC testing and GPS tracking from the Department of Agriculture, farmers are growing the crop in 2017.

Mann Mullen, a Franklin County farmer, is turning to industrial hemp. Mullen's business, Mullen View Farms, one of 75 farms in North Carolina that recently earned state approval to test the crop's viability, is looking forward to the new crop's potential.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On June 30, Nevada Representative Ruben J. Kihuen (D - 4th District) sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions asking that the Department of Justice continue to not prosecute cannabis-related cases where the alleged crime is legal under state law.

LANSING, MI — Marijuana legalization supporters announced Monday afternoon that the signature collection effort is running ahead of schedule with more than 100,000 signatures collected to-date. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which must collect 252,523 valid signatures over the summer to place the question on Michigan’s Nov. 2018 ballot, plans to submit signatures sometime this fall.

If approved by voters, Michigan would legalize personal possession, cultivation, and use of cannabis for adults 21 and older, legalize the cultivation of industrial hemp, license cannabis businesses that cultivate, process, test, transport, and sell marijuana, and protect consumers with proper testing and safety regulations for retail cannabis.

New York hemp farmer believes industrial hemp could be crop that puts the North Country on the map

By Michael Bachara
Hemp News

An Ellisburg company, one of six around the state to be awarded a permit to grow industrial hemp for research, believes hemp will flourish in New York.

Mark Privitera, an industrial hemp farmer, believes hemp can be used as house insulation and the wood core can be carbonized to store energy. Privitera's ultimate goal would be an industrial hemp processing plant in Watertown within 3-5 years, which would produce industrial hemp products for commercial sale.

On July 1, 2015, Oregon joined Colorado, Washington, Washington D.C. and Alaska in regulating recreational cannabis for adults over the age of 21. The Oregon law, which allows an individual the ability to carry one ounce of cannabis, possess up to 8 ounces and cultivate four (4) cannabis plants at their residence, was passed in November 2014 as Measure 91.

Mark Pettinger, the spokesperson for the Recreational Marijuana Program with Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC), said in a statement, “From January 2016 to now, I’d say we have made pretty good progress with the tools we have and the support we have.”

“Now we’re close to 1,300 licenses that have been issued and close to 3,000 applicants,” Pettinger added.

On June 27, Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison (D) reintroduced the Reclassification to Ensure Smarter and Equal Treatment Act of 2017, known as the RESET Act. The bipartisan legislation would reclassify specific low-level, non-violent drug possession felonies as misdemeanors. On May 27, Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) introduced the original bill, S. 1252 in the United States Senate.

Certified Patients Increase By More Than 7,500 Since Addition of Chronic Pain

By Michael Bachara
Hemp News

On June 22, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) announced several new enhancements to the state's Medical Marijuana Program as the number of certified patients continues to rise since the late March addition of chronic pain as a qualifying condition. Enhancements will streamline and simplify the registration process for practitioners, making it easier to certify patients for the medical marijuana program.

Fairfax, California, a small Marin County town, has a unique business which has been on the forefront of the nascent cannabis industry, Lynette Shaw’s Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana (MAMM) — one of the first medical-marijuana dispensaries in the United States. MAMM, hosted its grand reopening this week, after winning a federal court case that began in the late 1990s. Shaw, “godmother to all the dispensaries”, is cherishing the long-awaited homecoming.

“I never married, I never had children. I birthed this, instead,” Shaw said. “This is my family. And they’re coming back.”

Last Thursday, the Oregon House approved SB 1015A, bipartisan legislation which opens the door for industrial hemp to become the state’s newest agriculture industry. SB 1015, which eases restrictions on the sale of industrial hemp products by allowing growers to sell their crops to OLCC-licensed processors, permits industrial hemp products to be sold at licensed retail locations.

In North Dakota, farmers have found a great drought resistant crop in 2017: industrial hemp. Clarence Laub, a second-year North Dakota hemp farmer altered his seeding technique and is producing significant results using a third of the water as other cash crops.

"There's still a lot of hope for it. It should be one of the last things not to make it," said Laub. He continued, "This is also a very new crop, too. We just grew it. Last year was the first year, so this year is new and also with the dryer conditions that's new with it too."

Former NFL Defensive End Marvin Washington, who played 11 years in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the Broncos in 1999, wants the NFL and the Players Association to embrace cannabis as a safe alternative to treat debilitating sports injuries.

In 2003, country music artist Toby Keith sang his tribute “Weed With Willie,” and in the song, Keith sings “My party’s all over before its begins...I’ll never smoke weed with Willie again.”

This month, Keith released the song, “Wacky Tobaccy,” a song featuring Willie Nelson. Keith claims Red Hair Sinsemilla, a strain of cannabis from California, is his all-time favorite in his new song.

The song, which was co-written with his longtime songwriter Scotty Emerick, celebrates cannabis. The official video, shot on Nelson's bus before a Merle Haggard tribute in April, has become a viral hit.

This week at the National Summit on Crime Reduction and Public Safety, Vice President Mike Pence added fuel to the issue of recreational and medicinal of cannabis in the United States.

During his summit speech on June 21, Vice President Pence, said, "At the President’s direction, the Department of Justice will no longer let the worst offenders off easy. We’re once again pursuing the most serious readily available, provable charges for drug traffickers and violent criminals.... This is about stopping drugs from entering our schools so that our children can shape their future."